Client Alerts
Client Alerts
1219 items, 20 items per page
- The failure of the U.S. Congress to reach a budget deal is causing a partial shutdown of U.S. government offices and services. The full extent to which the government shutdown will affect various aspects of the immigration process is not yet clear.
- Just like the students who head back to school in August and the birds that start their journey south for the winter, legislators began their migration to Columbus in September. And your U. S. senators and congressmen are back at work in Washington.
- The domain world as we know it is about to change. Currently, there are about 24 top-level domains (tld). These are the portion of a web address that appears after the "dot" such as .com or .org. However, there are 1,409 new possibilities on the horizon and an infinite number of future tlds.
- On September 18, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new pay ratio rules pursuant to Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
- This client alert provices an update on the Clean Water Act “jurisdictional waters” guidance and the Science Advisory Board's review of USEPA’s water body connectivity scientific literature search.
- House Bill 59, which becomes effective on September 29, 2013, amended several sections of Ohio law governing the disposal of waste substances generated from oil and gas production operations. On September 16, 2013, Ohio EPA released three draft Guidance documents to facilitate the implementation of the new oil and gas-related waste management requirements.
- In a recently published policy memorandum, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance regarding the automatic assignment of Medicare Provider Agreements upon a change of ownership.
- OSHA’s proposed silica rule, supported by 800 pages of background information and scientific literature, was published in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013. The comment period, which commences with this date of publication will last 90 days (i.e., until December 11, 2013). Hearings will begin on March 4, 2014.
- Marriages between same-gender spouses will be recognized for federal income tax purposes if valid where performed (the state of celebration) regardless of whether the state in which the spouses live (the state of residence) recognizes the marriage.
- On August 27, 2013, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued final rules interpreting Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA).
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published a final rule that adds a new Condition of Participation that requires long-term care facilities that choose to arrange for the provision of hospice care with one or more Medicare-certified hospice providers to have in place a written agreement with the hospice that specifies the roles and responsibilities of each entity.
- Our August issue of the Vorys Shale Report provides an overview of a recent court decision that enforces a change-in-ownership provision contained in an oil and gas lease. The newsletter also provides a report on activity in the Utica and Point Pleasant Shales.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), has issued a "Hazard Alert" for the oil and gas industry regarding worker exposure to crystalline silica. The alert merits the attention of all who are involved with hydraulic fracturing operations.
- The postponement of the pay or play penalties and related reporting from 2014 to 2015 gives employers a welcome opportunity to reassess their compliance strategies and plan for a more measured implementation of new systems. However, the pay or play penalties are related to the availability of federal premium assistance for the purchase of health insurance on an exchange. The absence of pay or play penalties and related reporting in 2014 may increase the number of employees buying health insurance on an exchange with federal premium assistance in 2014.
- Our July issue of the Vorys Shale Report provides an overview of how energy companies are facing specific, targeted scrutiny from the federal government on wage-and-hour issues.
- The White House and Treasury announced on July 2nd that they are delaying enforcement of the ACA’s employer coverage mandate (which requires employers with 50+ full-time equivalent employees to provide affordable, adequate health coverage to substantially all of the employer’s full-time employees and their children) until 2015 to enable a more orderly roll-out of the reporting and disclosure requirements that will form the basis for the imposition of the employer penalties.
- The United States Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited decision in United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307, ruling that the section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that required federal laws to ignore same-sex marriages that are legally entered into under an applicable state law is unconstitutional.
- On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States held in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violated the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
- On Sunday June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Ohio’s biennial budget bill, which includes numerous provisions impacting Ohio taxpayers. Though the tax reforms in the final bill are not as sweeping as originally proposed, they will still impact virtually every state tax in some fashion.
- On June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Am. Sub House Bill 59 (H.B. 59), which is the operating budget bill for state fiscal year 2014. H.B. 59 includes language authorizing the establishment of a "Lake Facilities Authority" to rehabilitate, improve or promote an "impacted watershed."